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F. E. FERRIS.

PROFILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION nun AUG-2!. ms.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

4 SHEHS-SHEI 2- F. E. FERRIS.

PROFILING MACHINE.

APPLICAIICIN mu) MIG.27. 1919.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921. V

4 SHEETSSHEET 3 grvuenhvt C W F. E. FERRIS.

PROFHING MACHINL APPLICATION min M1617.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SW11 4 UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. FERRIS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE ZENITH CARBUBETOB COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

PROFILING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed August 27, 1919. Serial No. 320,171.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I. FRANK E. FnRRIs, a citizen of the linited States, residihr ilg at Detroit county of \Vayne. State of lchian, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in "Profiling-Machines, and declare the following to be a full. clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for profiling blanks. and has for its object improved organizations of parts by which blanks made initially in some form which can be rapidly and cheaply turned out, or partially machined thereto, can be thereafter given their desired final contour, either angular or curved. with speed and accurac n whatever embodiment adopted, its basic theory centers about the immobility (other than its rotativc movement about its own axis) of a cutter member. to whose action the blanks are successively presented by holding members. part of whose function is their regulated movement with their inserted blanks toward and away from the cutter. and the remainder of whose function consists in movement of the blank relatively to its holding member and to the cutter while the projective and retractive movement just mentioned is in progress. so as to selectively present the several parts of the blank whose profiling is desired to the action of the cutter. Some circumstances may call for the cutting of the sides of the blank to a curved cross-sectional contour. either truly circular, or more or less elliptical. while other cases may require the finishing of the blank to a shape whose cross section is rectangular. hexagonal. or octagonal. and still others may involve a combination of curved and angular cross sectional profiles. Furthermore. in some cases a single holder and its operative connections may be employed in association with the cutter. in others two or more may be centered about the cutter for operation in timed succession. without departure from the intended scope of the disclosure.

My experience thus far has also led me to the conclusion that pivoted or oscillatory carriers. of the. type that will be herein dewribcd. are preferable to purely reciprocatory carriers, because of the greater simwould be substantially identical, and 1 desire the scope of this disclosure to be understood accordingly, in case further experimental work shows the use of reciprocatory carriers to be operatively feasible.

For the purpose of specific illustration herein. I have selected and will describe what may be termed a hexing machine. that is. one adapted to finish a blank to hexagonal cross-sectional form; and I have shown a pair of the preferred form of holding members or carriages, arran ed on each side of the cutter. But it is to understood that all of the other mentioned arrangements of parts are included within the explanations and description here given, and attention is here called to the claims as illustrative of the scope herein and hereby covered.

In the drawin Figure 1 is a ront elevational view of my improved machine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the right hand side of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1.

Fi 3 is a sectional elevation (except for the broken-away portion at the bottom) along the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan along the broken line 4.4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan View alon the line of Fig. 1, designed particular y to bring out the relation of the clutch mechanism to the most prominently active parts of the machine.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the blankholding parts. along the line 66 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a cross-section along the line T-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a detail elevational view of one of the positioning cams.

Fig. 9 (details It and b) shows side and end elevations respectively of one of the blanks before it has been acted upon by my ma hine.

Fig. 10 (details a and b) shows similar views of a completed nut, of hexagonal form.

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the sloping contact face on one of the swinging .arms and of its complementary projection on one of the guard pieces.

From the table or bench 12 rises a frame 13, in which is rotatably journaled, preterably in ball bearings 14:, the shaft 15, driven in any desired manner, as from a belt passing over the pulley l6. eyed on the forward end oi this shaft 1 is a milling cutter 20. Centered about it, in addition to its guard members, to be'hereinatter described, are the means for presenting the individual blanks for action by the cutter, and for moving the blanks about their own axes, so as to accomplish the desired shaping of each during one complete cycle of operations.

The carriage or holding members herein illustrated consist of a pair of liinitedly movable arms 19 and 29, their upper ends being located at the level of the cutter 20. Each of these arms is held yieldiugly toward the intermediately located cutter 20 by springs 31 and which a 'e anchored to the ends of the struts or brackets and 34-. respectively. In a horizontally bored portion of the end of each of these arms engages the blank holding end of its spindle 17 (or 27). The forward end of the spindle 1'? (or 2'?) consists of a collet shell 36, within which slidably engages the sleeve 28, which is yieldingly pressed outwardly by the spring 30, which engages against the inwardly tapered flange or collar 38 of the sleeve 28. Within the sleeve 28 and spring 80 is tne cxpansible collet 40, which is held inside ot the spindle by means ofthe bolt 2'? which ends in the rearwardly projecting master term 99. and whose slight resiliency as to expansion and contraction is secured through the medium of the lengthwise cuts or kerfs ll. Variations as to the details of construction of these blank-holding parts may prove necessary from the exact form here shown, which is adapted particularly for the type of nut illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. There is, furthermore, no reason other than limitations in the operators skill and the closeness of the attention paid by him to the work to avoid confusion, why the two spindles herein shown may not be operating' on different kinds or diflerent sizes of blanks'at the same time, each being taken from separate stor age boxes, and being thrown into separate storage boxes when completed. For the purposes of this disclosure, however, the blankholdin parts appurtenant to each of the spindles 17 and 27 may be treated as alike, and the reference characters applied to the parts on one of the spindles are also used for the other.

- l/Vhen the blank 42 is forced into position within the collet 40, its threaded inner end 43 is engaged by the inner face of the collet, while its then rounded outer end is located in the plane of the cutter 20, though still sufliciently distant therefrom so that, pro tected by one of the shields 21, the operators fingers can safely handle it and place it in position wi hin the collet. To put the blank in position, the sleeve 28 is pressed against the spring 80 by thepivoted lever '78 (or 93) thus permitting the collet %0 to open. llpon releasing the pressure exerted by the lever 73 (or 93), the collet is closed by the pressure of the spring 30, and holds the blank firmly in position for action thereon by the cutter 20.

The rear end oilv each of the collet spindles 17 (or 2'?) takes the shape a master form 0 (or 90), which is adapted to be yieldingly drawn by the spring 31 (or 13), as the whole carrier arm 19 (or 29) swings, against the adjustable stop block 69 (or As either spindle is rotated, the wiping movement of the master term against its stop block varies and regulates, correspondingly with the contour of the master term, the position of the blank elatively to the cutter, resulting in its trimming accordingly.

Journals-d crosswise of the frame, as viewed in Fig. l, is a worm sha it. 51, driven by the belt pulley 52. The worm meshes with the worm wheels and 100, which causes constant rotation of the clutch members as and 99. With the teeth of these clutch members the complementary clutch members 26 and -16 are adapted to engz-ige, these being sleeved about the shafts and 56, and being yieldingly projected into engagement with the clutch members as and 99 by the springs 53. and TS, which clutch collar pieces 26 and a6 slidahlyengage, are in mesh with the teeth of the gears 59 and 79 on the hollow shafts (30 and 80 respectively. On. these shai'ts GO and 80 are mounted the can). members 63 and 88, by whose wiping action against the stop rollers 65' and 85, as the shafts 60 and S0 rotate, the inward and outward movement; of the carriage arms 19 and 29 is ei'lected, in a manner to be hereinafter described.

In mesh with the teeth oi. the gear wheels 59 and 79 are the gear wheels 61 and. 81. each of'which is keyed about one of the spindles l? (or 27) so as to rotate them and their col- The gear wheels {39 lll) lets and consequently the blanks then held therein, in timed relation to the action of the other parts or the mechanism.

)ver the end of the cutter shalt 15 is lof V cated a fixed guard shell 15, and over this, and extending beyond the'edges thereof on each side, are the hingedshield pieces'2l,

whose pintles .22 are anchored between the projections 23; each ofthese shield pieces is yieldinglyheldin position with its interned edge 21 over the edge of the cutter, by the action of the spring 24:. And the outer edge of each shield piece is bent outwardly, as at 25,.so that, when the blank is movedtoward the cutter by the described movement of the carrier 19 (or 29), the outer or top end of the blank may have partial clearance thereunder. The presence of the bulged edge of the shield pieces over and beyond the rotating periphery of the cutter prevents the operator from laceration of his fingers when inserting and removing the blanks from the collet it), which operations are performed when the arm 19 (or 29) is at outer limit of its travel. The hinged shield pieces 21 preferably have projections 88 and 98 on their lower outer corners, which are adapted to be engaged by complementarily located surfaces on the arms 19 and 29 respectively as the arms swing upward the cutter, thus swinging the shield sufiiciently out so that its inturned edge 21" no longer engages over the periphery of the cutter. which can then act on the sides of the blank as it is swung theretoward.

The two blank-supporting portions of the mechanism herein illustrated are intended to be worked alternatingly, each being fed manually by the operator from conveniently placed supply boxes, which, as stated, may contain different sizes or different shapes of blanks, whose finished members are different from one another and are to be placed in separate receptacles when removed from the spindle.

To open the collet on either spindle for the insertion of a blank, the corresponding treadle, as 92, is actuated, resulting in forcing the flattened upper end of the pivoted lever 103 against the adjacent end of the push rod 82 with the hollow shaft 80. This forces the pointed end of the lever 93 against the exposed edge of the sleeve 28 of the collet in the way already described, and permits the insertion of the blank 42, after which foot pressure on the treadle 92 ceases. The starting lever 43 (or 44) is then manually turned, against the action of the spring 77 (or 97), to an extent sufficient to displace the tip of the detent piece 37 (or 39) from its normal position of rest within the groove 47 of the clutch piece 26, which has served to hold the clutch piece out of engagement with its companion clutch piece 49, against the action of the springs 53. \Vhen the detent piece is disengaged, the springs 53 serve to force the teeth of the clutch piece 46 into engagement with the teeth of the clutch piece 49, which is constantly rotating. its external gear being in mesh with the worm shaft 51, driven by the pulley or other suitable source of rotative power as previously described. After such displacement of the detent piece 39. the mechanism needs no further attention from the operator until its cycle of operations is completed and the fully profiled nut is ready to be removed from the collet. The detent piece rides on the outer periphery of the clutch piece 26 until its tip reaches and drops down the enlarged part 48 of the groove 47. Upon encountering the sloping face 54 of the groove, it rides therealong, gradually forcing the clutch piece 26 out of mesh against the pressure of its springs 53. When this is accomplished, a cycle of operations has been completed, and that section of the mechanism is thereafter inactive until the collet has been freed of the now profiled blank, a fresh blank has been inserted and the starting lever 43 or 44 actuated once more, which does not take place until the corresponding half of the mechanism controlled by the starting lever 43 has been started in action. Thus one side can be in process of clearing and loading while the mechanism on the other side is engaged in the profiling operation.

The rotative movement of the clutch just described has been transmitted to the bored shaft 80 by the gear wheels 78 and 79. At the beginning of each cycle of operations the cam 83 is in the position shown in Figs. 1. and 3, with its indented portion against the stop roller 85; the whole carrier arm 29 is thus held against the pull of its spring 33 at the extreme of its possible swing outwardly from the cutter 20. As soon as the rotation of the shaft moves the side face 86 of the cam against the stop roller, the pull of the spring 33 draws the whole carrier arm toward the cutter and allows the master form 90 on the rear end of the spindle 27 to gradually come into engagement with the adjustable stop block 89, whose position thus regulates the possible depth of cut of the cutter 20 into the several faces of the blank 42. \Vhen the plane side faces of the master form are in engagement with the stop block, a corres 'ionding cut is made in the blank; when one of its edges or angles is wiping over the stop block. the position of the blank thereby varied slightly to effect a corresponding limitation in the depth of cut at that point. Rotation of the blank-supporting spindle 27 has meantime been effected by the gears 78. T9 and 81 as already described.

The cam 83 being, at the beginning of each cycle of operations, in engagement with its stop roller H5. serves to hold the carrier arm 29 at the outer limit of its swing relatively to the cutter. \Vhen the cam 91; first begins to rotate. the engagement of its curved sidc Rt) against the roller serves under the continued pull of the spring 33. to gradually let the master form 90 against its stop block 89 and consequently to let the blank 43 against the edge of the cutter 21). After the side 86 of the cam has passed the. range of the stop roller 85,the master form is fully against the stop block 89. and controls the depth of the cut through such a peripheral distance on the gear 79 as to at least equal peripherally a full rotation of the smaller gear wheel 81,

which rotates the spindle, thus giving the full cut-tin etlect alread mentioned on all sides of the blank. This complete rotation of the spindle has thus been accomplished by the time the inclined face 86 or the cam member, by its engagement against the stop roller 85, has begun to draw the carrier 29 and spindle 27 away from the cutter It will be noted that the gear wheels 78 and '79 are shown as of the same size, whereas the gear wheel 81 is made smaller, so that this latter is rotatez'l through more than one complete revolution while the gear wheels 78 and 79 are making but one rotation. The action of? the clutch makes the gear 78 have but one complete revolution, after which it stops, in the manner heretoiore described. The near 79 also makes but 'one complete revolution, and the cam 83 is so located relatively thereto that at the end of the cycle its engagement against the stop roller 85 holdsthe carrier in its outwardly swung position. This pre arable construction makes it possible to insure the complete machining of all faces oi: the blank to the proper depth of cut, after the gradual lowering of the master term 90 against the stop block 89, by the turning 0 the cam 83 has, in the initial stages of this cycle of operations, prevented the cutter from grinding off the proper depth of material from that side of the blank which has happened to be first engaged by the cutter.

Theouteror working rl-ace ct each of the stop blocks 69 and 89 should be of the same curvature as the peripheral contour of the cutter 20, in order to so position the master form 90 relatively to the central oi: the cutter that the cutter 20 will go correspondingly into the mass of the blank 43;

and they are so made in the first instance.

The cutter 20 is likely to wear down, or be ground away, more or less, as it is used,

so that its radius becomes less than for- Provision is therefore'made for the adjustment of these stop blocks by means oi the bolts 69 and 89, inwardly or outwardly, as the condition and size of the cutter may determine; if the cutter has become worn, the stop blocks are moved inwardly until their new position enables the master forms 90 to be halted by and to engage these surfaces at radial points COilLp ing in position with the worn edge of the cutter. Due to the different radial dimer sions then prevailing. the curve of the tive faces ot-the stop blocks is no longer en"- actly the same as that of the cutter, but the difference is so slight as to be negligible in practice.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In combination with a cutter, carriage ees/ ea members adapted to move toward and away therefrom. means for actuating the same in= dependently of one another, blank-holding members fournaled in said carrier members, and n'ieans for effecting regulated rotative movement of said blank-holding members while their respective carrier members are being presented for action on the blanks by the cutter.

l n combin on with a rotatable cutter, a plurality of carriage members arranged thereabout, blank-supporting spindles rotatably journaled in said carriage members, means deriving their actuation from a common source 0-1? power whereby the rotation Oi each. spindle may be effected contemporaneously with the movement of its carriage member toward and away from the cutter, and regulatable means adapted to be engaged by a portion of the spindle while its rotative movement is in progress, whereby the depth and contour oi, the action of the cutter on the blank may be regulated.

3, In combination with a rotatable cuttor, limitedly movable carriage members arranged thereabout, spindle members rotatably journaled in said carriage members in position to have the blanks held thereby engaged by the cutter during a selected portion oiteach cycle of movement of their respective carriage members, means for actuatingeach of said carriage members toward and away from the cutter, means for rotating the several spindle members contemporaneously with the swing of their respective carriage members, means for effecting; the release 01? the blank from its spindle when the cycle of operations has been completed, and means for automatically haltinc the further movement of each carriage oi its spindle at the end or each cycle of operations. V

The combination of arota-table cutter, rriage member, means for actuating the carriage member toward and away from said cutter, a spindle member rotatably journaled in said carriage member, means operatively connecting said spindle with said carriage actuating means whereby the spindle is rotatively actuated at a selected point in each cyclerof operations, andadjustable means adapted to be engaged by a portion said spindle whereby the degree 01? possible movement of said spindle and of its sing-ported blank toward the cutter may be regulated I l 5. In combination with a rotatable cutter, a pair of carrier members, a blank-supportingspindle rotatably supported'by each ot said carrier meml in position to present the blank to thcaction of saidcutter, means for regulating the movement of each of said carrier members and of the parts supported thereby toward and awaytrom said cutter,

and a master form and regulating block therefor whereby the depth and the contour of the action of the cutter on the blank may be regulated.

6. In combination with a plurality of carrier members, a rotatable cutter member lo cated between said carrier members, means for yieldingly pulling said carrier members toward said cutter member, a blank-supporting spindle provided with a master form rotatably supported in the free end of each of said carrier members, adjustable regulating blocks against which said master forms are adapted to engage, means tor regulat ing the approach of each carrier member toward said cutter and away therefrom. means for starting and stopping the action of each carrier member relatively to the cutter member, and means for effecting the re lease at the end of each operation (it the blank that has been worked upon.

7. In combination with a rotatable cutter. a plurality of carriers located at the sides thereof in position for limited movement toward and away from said cutter. worlc supporting spindles provided with master forms rotatably supported in said car iers adjacent said cutter. means for yieldingly drawing said carriers and their supported parts toward said cutter, means for regulat ably holding said carriers and their sup ported parts away from said cutter. means tor rotating each of said work-holding spindles during a certain portion oi each cycle of operations. and means for eng r nc a portion of each work supporting spindle a' the end of each cycle of operations to cites: the release of the blank which h-=s been worked upon.

8. In combination with a rotatable cutter. a rotatable work-supporting spindle on each side of said cutter, supporting means for said spindles adapted to present the blanks supported thereby for action by said cutter and to withdraw each at the end of its cycle of operations, means for regulating the contour and the depth of the cut on the blanks, and means for effecting the presentation movement of each spindle independently of the other.

9. The combination, with a rotatable cutter, of blank-supporting spindles, means for normally holding said spindles in inoperative position relatively to said cutter and for releasing each for a timed cycle of operations with respect to said cutter, means for regulating the degree of possible approach of each spindle to said cutter, means carried by each spindle and adapted to cooperate with said last-mentioned means whereby the contour of the cutting action by the cutter on the blank may be regulated, and means adapted to engage each spindle at the end of each cycle of operations to effect the release of the blank held thereby.

it). The combination of a rotatable cutter, a pair of rotatable blank-supporting spindles, means for supporting said spindles on opposite sides of said cutter and for limitedly moving the same toward and away from the cutter, adjustable means adapted to cooperate with a portion of each spindle whereby the depth and contour of the trimming action of the cutter on the individual blanks may be regulated, and means for actuating each of said spindle-supporting means.

ll. In combination with a pair of limitedly movable carriers, means for positively actuating them in one direction, spring members yieldingly drawing each of said arriers in the opposite direction from that in which its positive actuating means is adapted to work, a rotary cutter located between said carriers, a rotatable spindle member supported in that part of each carrier adjacent said cutter, a master-form carried on each of said spindle members, an adjustable abutment member for each master form, and means for rendering each of said carriers and its supported parts active.

12. In combination with a rotatable cutter, carriage members disposed thereabout in position to intermittently move into and out of operative range thereof, work-supporting spindles rotatably supported by said carriage members, means adapted to be engaged by a selected portion of each spindle whereby the degree of its approach toward the cutter may be regulated, means for independently actuating each carriage member. means for rotatably actuating its sup ported spindle during the cycle of operations of each carrier, and means for automatically effecting a stoppage of the several mechanisms at the end of each cycle of operations.

13. The combination, with a rotatable cutter, of a plurality of carriage members arranged thereabout, means for effecting the movement of each carriage member toward and away from said cutter independently of the others, blank-holding spindles rotatably supported by said carriage members, means for effecting the rotation of each spindle, and means adapted to be engaged by a portion of each spindle whereby the degree of its possible approach toward said cutter may be regulated.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK E. FERRIS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM M. SWAN, JEFFERSON G. THURBER. 

